The Four Seasons
by Kirsteena
Summary: Time marches on, but each season brings its own special moment.


This was written for the holiday exchange at Gleefics on Livejournal (prompt, Artie/Tina, winter), and now that the author list has been published, I can post it here! I'm sorry I haven't finished Too Big for the Present, but an unexpected stay in hospital and longer than expected convalescence meant that I simply haven't been able to write much. Hopefully will resolve that soon! Many thanks to Heather, my beta reader, and also to Brianna, my role play partner, with whom the timeline for this fic was worked out based on our rp together.

Disclaimer: This Glee fanfiction is based upon the television show of the same name. All characters and situations other than my own are sole property of Ryan Murphy Productions and 20th Century Fox Television.

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_The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other. ~Arthur Rubenstein_

**Spring – Junior year**

_Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson_

School gossip generally moved through the ranks quickly at McKinley High, but this story had been given extra special prominence thanks to Jacob Ben Israel and his blog.

_**Asian fusion fissions out**_

_God_, Artie thought to himself as caught the headline, flicking through the blog on his way to Facebook. _Jewfro probably thinks he's funny_. He was lying on his bed, only half paying attention to what was on the screen, but after seeing the words he pulled the laptop closer to him, reading the story. It was only to pass the time until Brittany arrived, he told himself, as he scrolled down the page.

Jacob was obviously using wild speculation to pad out the story – it had no substantial information in it. Artie sat and wondered. Was it really true? Mike and Tina had seemed so solid – they had certainly been their usual cute selves at Glee two days earlier. Granted, since then, Mike had been off sick...

Artie sat up, frowning to himself, trying to think back. Tina had appeared to be fine in rehearsals, but these days, he wasn't so sure about what Tina was thinking. Mercedes hadn't said anything when they'd had lunch earlier that day.

It may not have seemed like it at the time, but Artie had read between the lines regarding their own breakup, and he'd taken on board what she'd said. Sure, Mike's abs had no doubt had an effect on her (something he'd given up trying to get, but he was still having fun on the football team), but he'd absorbed what she'd said about Halo, and how he'd been ignoring her, and he'd begun to make a few changes. Halo was generally only played when he was with company (Finn and Puck had been round to his house a few times, separately, and they'd had some late night sessions playing). His copy of _Coming Home_ was put away at the top of his closet, and he actually paid attention to Brittany when they were on dates. Okay, so it meant that occasionally he had to sit through her watching _My Little Pony_, but the point was he was trying.

He picked up his phone, looking at it for a few minutes. If he contacted Tina, it could be seen as trying to get back with her in the wake of the break up – he knew that he wasn't really over her, even if he was with Brittany. But if he didn't... it would seem like he'd totally abandoned her, even as a friend, and that was something he couldn't do. They'd gradually begun to rebuild a tentative friendship after Sectionals, and he wasn't giving it up on it now.

He quickly typed a simple message. _U ok? A_, then put his phone down, deliberately closing the laptop. His girlfriend was on her way over, and he wanted to focus on her. Checking Tina or Mike's relationship status on Facebook could wait till afterwards. He transferred from the bed onto his chair, checked the time, realised that Brittany was late (again), and wheeled out through the house. He glanced out of the window, and saw she was outside, watching a butterfly lazily fluttering amongst the flowers in the garden. He couldn't help smiling at her antics.

He heard a text message arrive on his cell phone, and pulled it out of his pants pocket. A simple message. _No. T_. He blinked. He hadn't expected a direct answer so quickly, and not one so honest. What did he do now? He glanced up at Brittany, and quickly shot off another text. _If u need a friend, u no where I am_. What else could he do? He had plans, and one thing he'd learned over this year was that he wasn't the same Artie that he had been. He had responsibilities now. He sighed, put his phone away, grabbed his jacket and went out to meet his girlfriend.

It was only when he got back later that night that he checked his phone again. _1 new message_. He frowned as he opened the message, before smiling at the simple content. _Thx, Artie. T_.

**Summer – between junior and senior year**.

_In every girls life; there's a boy she'll never forget and a summer where it all began. ~Anonymous._

He lay there on his bed, looking up at the ceiling fan circling, debating if he really wanted to move in this oppressive heat. If he did, he'd only end up mooching around the nicely air conditioned house, getting in the way of his parents, or end up having to look after his little sister, Emma. Lying here was a far more attractive option.

Artie's reverie was broken by the sound of a text message arriving on his cell. Reaching over to the bedside table, he picked it up, and opened it. _U ok? T_. He couldn't help smiling slightly. This week had been a strange one, with the break up with Brittany as she went back to Santana. who had _finally_ admitted her feelings for her blonde friend. He wasn't all that surprised when she told him what had happened between the two Cheerios at the victory celebration for another Cheerleading Nationals win, and they agreed that while their time together had been nice (and some damn good times) but maybe it was time to move on. He'd ignored the smug look Santana gave him.

_Actually, yeah. I am_ he texted back, and put the phone down, returning to his contemplation of the ceiling fan.

A wasted summer day, doing absolutely nothing constructive at all. Perfect. The day had eventually involved some television watching, eating the salad that his mother had provided, pretending to look after Emma – nothing constructive at all. And now he was back sprawled on his bed, this time with his laptop sitting on his knees, checking Facebook.

**Artie Abrams** has changed his relationship status to _single_. He'd just clicked on the confirm button when a tap on the window made him look round in surprise. No one tapped on his window normally. He stared at it for a moment, as if he could tell who it was through the curtains. "I have a baseball bat in here!" he called out, wincing slightly when his voice cracked. He carefully transferred himself back into his chair, ready to go and see what was on the other side of the window.

"No, you don't, Artie," a familiar voice called back, obviously holding back laughter.

"Tina?" he said, opening the curtains and staring at her in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Tina gave him an odd look. "What does it look like, doofus?" she said, poking her head through the open window into his room. "Can I come in?"

Artie blinked at her, before moving back away from the window, and nodded. He deliberately turned away as she climbed in – she was wearing a very short pair of shorts and a plain tank top in deference to the weather – he didn't want to be accused of perving at her legs, even though with the glimpse he caught, she was looking _fine_. When he heard her land in his room (she wasn't always the most graceful of people), he turned back to look at her, an eyebrow raised in question. "I came to check you were okay," she said softly, looking down, very obviously embarrassed. This was in stark contrast to the confidence she'd gained in the last year, something Artie knew was mostly due to Mike's influence.

He frowned at her. "Really?" he asked, then changed tack and smiled. "Honestly, I meant it when I said I was fine." The look Tina gave him was sceptical, and he narrowed his eyes in response. "I thought you didn't care what happened to me and Brittany?" he said, wincing the second the words were out of his mouth, but he didn't take them back. They had taken their time in rebuilding their friendship, and it had become more like what it had been ever since Tina and Mike had split up, but it often felt to Artie as if they were rocking in place – every time they took a step forward, something would happen, one of them would become defensive, and they would end up back where they started. It wasn't only Artie who made mistakes, but the difference between things as they were before, and as they were now was that they were both persevering, working on it.

Tina's expression softened slightly, much to Artie's surprise. "Artie. You're my friend. Of course I care." He stared at her for a moment. In the months they'd been dancing around their friendship again, neither of them had actually said the 'f' word, preferring to leave it as implied. Artie nodded gently, not making a big thing of it, but couldn't help the small smile he gave her. It was as if a significant step had been taken, and despite his best accidental efforts to screw it up, they were still there, talking to each other.

Tina smiled back at him, then climbed onto his bed, sitting cross legged as she faced him. "Really okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Really okay. I guess... I guess I always knew it was only a matter of time with Britt. She isn't exactly known for her fidelity, especially where Santana is concerned. So, it wasn't exactly a complete surprise." He smiled suddenly. "Remember when you once told me that you and I never had a chance with either of them? Guess you were right. Popularity wins out, and the nerds end up where we are."

Tina watched him for a moment. "You've changed," she said suddenly, which led to Artie frowning at her. "I know what you were like after..."

"After we broke up?" Artie asked, then shrugged. He'd deliberately chosen to move on from his accusation of Tina dumping him purely for Mike Chang's abs, realizing eventually that she wasn't the only one to blame.

"Yeah. You were so down on everything, like you couldn't accept it. This, though..."

"Hey, I told you. I was half expecting it, so it wasn't a shock this time," Artie replied, smiling at her. "Sure, it sucks a bit, and it'll make Jewfro's blog, but... you can't be mad at her, not really."

Tina laughed. "No, that's for sure, you can't be mad at Brittany," she said, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "She's like a..." She stopped, snapping her head round at the door that was suddenly opening.

"Artie?" It was his mother. "Your father and I have an early start tomorrow and... Tina. Hello." She gave her son a look as if to say 'you have guests in your bedroom and you didn't tell me?'

"Mom..." Artie had the grace to look embarrassed. "Er..."

"I'm just going, Mrs Abrams," Tina said, unfolding her legs and standing up. "I just came to check on Artie."

Mrs Abrams suddenly smiled. "Don't worry, Tina. You know you're always welcome here. Just don't be up too late, Artie. You've got physio early tomorrow."

"I won't, Mom," Artie said, still not really looking at her.

Mrs Abrams went to go out the door, turning to look back at the pair. "Tina, feel free to use the door rather than the window. It's a lot easier." Tina flushed, and nodded at Artie's mom as she shut the door behind her.

The two of them looked at each other, and they burst out laughing at the same time. "Oh god, I'm sorry," Artie said as Tina flopped back down on his bed, holding her sides as they began to ache.

"Don't be," she eventually managed to gasp out. "Oh, her face. That was hilarious!"

Artie gradually stopped laughing, before smiling at Tina. "That... That..." He thought about it for a moment. "That was the most we've laughed together for a long time."

"Felt good, actually," Tina said, sounding shocked.

"No need to be surprised, Tina," Artie said. "We are allowed to have a good time, you know. It's what friends do."

Tina sighed. "It feels good." Artie quirked an eyebrow at her in query. "This friends thing. I missed it."

"Me too, Tina. Me too."

**Autumn – Senior Year**

_Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits. ~Samuel Butler_

There was a certain irony that their first real misunderstanding after becoming friends again was to do with dance.

Senior year brought with it new challenges – the realization that there was only one more year of high school, and the choices that had to be made regarding what to do afterwards. For Artie, the 'what' he wanted to study was an easy choice. The 'where' to study was more complicated. With his recent promotion to President of the AV club, his wishing to pursue a career in film was his new, achievable dream. The problem was narrowing the courses down, and meeting the criteria to get in. Money wasn't an issue, thanks to the settlement that had been paid to him after the accident, which had been accruing interest ever since. So the choice purely came down to where he wanted to go – and the challenges he would face there. Worryingly, for his parents anyway, he was leaning towards the film and video course at the School for Visual Arts in New York – not the most wheelchair friendly city in the world, but part of him wanted to go there just for the challenge (and the fact that in the brochure, they had included a picture of a lecture, where someone was obviously in a wheelchair, so he wouldn't be the first, at least. It gave him hope).

He'd been happily telling Tina about his plans one day, when he suddenly asked her what she was planning to do. She's blushed slightly before shaking her head and saying "Still deciding."

Six weeks on and Tina was giving the same response, and Artie was starting to get frustrated – he couldn't understand why she wouldn't give him a straight answer. Was she trying to surprise him? Did she really not know? Was she actually going to go to college?

It took him another week before he confronted her about it. Their lives were busy – Glee, with an increased rehearsal schedule to try and ensure they did as well as they could in their last year together, studying, all the little things that filled up their days – so it took time before Artie managed to get Tina alone and relaxed enough to ask her about it. Friday night was movie night as a rule, whether they went to the cinema, or stayed in at one of their houses (generally Artie's, purely for convenience) and watched a DVD. Tonight's choice was an old cheesy sci-fi movie, mainly so they could go all Mystery Science Theater 3000 on it, which was their way of relaxing after a stressful week.

They were both sprawled on the sofa in the family room of Artie's house, throwing occasional pieces of freshly popped popcorn at each other, when Artie suddenly asked, "Why won't you tell me what you intend to do at college?"

Tina sat up suddenly, looking at him. "Artie, it's not like that, it's..." she trailed off, flushing slightly.

Artie paused the movie before pulling himself upright and looking at her. "It feels like it, Tina," he said, and there was a hint of hurt in his voice. "You have been seeing Miss Pillsbury, and... okay, so maybe I don't have a right to know, but I'd like to. As a friend."

Tina looked down for a moment, then back at him. "I didn't want to upset you," she said in a quiet voice.

"Upset me?" Artie was confused. "Why would what you do upset me?"

"Because I want to study dance!"

There was silence between them as Artie stared at her, taking in what she had said. "You want to study dance?"

Tina had bowed her head forward, her hair hiding her face. "I knew you'd react like this, that's why I didn't want to tell you," she mumbled from under the curtain of hair.

Artie stared at her for a moment then suddenly, all that could be heard in the room was the sound of his laughter. Tina snapped her head up, brushing her hair back as she looked at him. She pouted, trying to figure out just why he was laughing. "Is the fact I want to study dance so strange?" she snapped at him.

Artie took a moment to calm himself down, before smiling at her. "That's it? _That's_ why you got all upset and didn't want to tell me?" he asked.

"Artie. I know how you react about dance, how upset you got that time..." Tina started but trailed off when Artie shook his head.

"Tina. That was then. It's not me now. I told you, I'm focusing on dreams I can make true, and going to study film. Didn't you get the idea I might be excited about it by the fact I haven't shut up talking about it for six weeks?"

"But..."

"Tina. That was then. Sure, I'm never going to be able to dance, not the way I want to. Maybe one day I can look at wheelchair dancing, but it's not a priority. The fact that _you_ want to study dance? That's awesome. You're following your dream. I'm never gonna get upset about that, Tina. Never."

Tina snapped her head up to look at Artie as he spoke, frowning at first, then giving him a shy smile. "Really?" she asked.

"Really. Where are you thinking of going?" Artie smiled at her, trying to reassure her that yes, he really was okay with it, and that everything would be fine.

"What... No, when did you change?" she asked. "I really thought you would blow up, get all sensitive about it like you used to."

"Nope. Not any more. I'm learning, Tina. Not saying I'll always get it right, but I'm trying, because I want us... this friendship to work. And it'll only work if we both want it to, and trust each other. And I do."

**Winter – Senior Year**

_In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. ~William Blake_

Artie stared out of the window, watching the snow fall from the sky. The forecast was poor, with heavy blizzards predicted all weekend, and he suspected he'd spend most of it indoors. A wheelchair and snow wasn't a good combination.

"Ready?" Artie turned as a blast of cold air hit him when the car down opened, and Tina hurled herself into the driver's seat, shivering. "It's getting worse."

"Yeah," Artie replied, answering both her comments at once before smiling at her. "Thanks for giving me a lift home. Mom and Dad are both stuck at the conference until later – assuming they can get home at all."

"You be okay if they can't?" Tina asked, fastening her safety belt, before turning the key.

Artie shot her an amused look. "I'm eighteen now, I think I can manage to take care of myself."

Tina rolled her eyes at him. "Idiot, you know what I mean." Artie had finally opened up some more about his accident to her (with some prompting), and she knew that snow held bad memories for him. "If you need someone to stick around, I'm happy to."

Artie didn't answer, just smiled at her and let her drive. Tina was a cautious driver, which Artie certainly appreciated at this time of year. He continued to stare out of the window the whole drive home, content to sit in silence with Tina. It didn't take long for Tina to pull up in front of the Abrams' house. She paused, eyeing the drive, debating how close she wanted to get to the house.

"You can stop here, don't bother with the drive," Artie said, glancing at her. "I wouldn't trust driving up on that, anyway."

"So, I'm guessing you need a push up to the door?" Tina asked, a glint of amusement in her eyes.

Artie looked over at her and laughed. "You know I do," he shrugged. He was less bothered about asking for help from her than he ever had been in the past. Tina flashed him a grin, then jumped out of her car, getting his wheelchair and bringing it around to where Artie was.

"C'mon, let's get you inside before it gets worse," Tina said, moving behind his chair, getting ready to push him up the slight slope that was the Abrams' drive.

"Are you coming in for a bit?" Artie asked, putting his gloves on, ready to help as much as he could. "I can probably manage to make a hot chocolate for you without burning it."

"Are you sure? I remember last time you tried," Tina laughed, giving his chair a solid push through the snow. Artie did his best to help her, but it was hard going – there was already around six inches of snow on the ground.

"I think I can manage to make hot chocolate don't you... hey! No fair!" Artie exclaimed, as a heap of snow was dumped down his neck. Tina giggled, stepping away from his chair, tell tale white powder on her gloves.

"Oh I see," Artie said, grinning at her. "It's gonna be like that?" He reached down, grabbed a handful of snow, making a fast snowball and pelted it at her, hitting her on the shoulder. She ran out of the way and hid behind a bush, laughing. "Well, that's fair," he pouted.

Tina's head poked out from behind the bush just long enough to receive a snowball in the face from Artie. He collapsed laughing in his chair as she spluttered, wiping the snow out of her face. "This means war!" she yelled, before picking up more snow and rubbing it onto Artie's head.

They continued for a few more minutes before Artie suddenly shivered with cold. "We should get in," he said, drawing his jacket around him to try and keep warm. Tina looked at him in concern, and nodded, moving behind him to push him to the door. When they were inside, Artie looked up at her. "I need to go and change. Don't want to sit in wet clothes," he said, still shivering slightly. "Are you okay?"

"Go," Tina said, frowning slightly. "I'll dry off quickly. Want me to make the hot chocolate?"

Artie nodded. "That would be great. You know where everything is?"

Tina just rolled her eyes at him in response. "Like I haven't been here before," she said, laughing slightly. "Go. Get warm."

It was twenty minutes before Artie emerged from his bedroom, dressed in clothes Tina hadn't seen on him before – sweatpants, a hooded top, and thick, brightly patterned socks. She glanced at him, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the socks. "What?" was his response, then followed her gaze, and flushed slightly. "They keep my feet warm. Sometimes I forget I can't feel the cold, and that can be nasty. Better to be safe than sorry," Tina blinked as she looked at him. It was the first time he'd volunteered any information about his condition without her having to push, and she suddenly smiled. "What?"

"Nothing," she said in response. "I made hot chocolate. Family room?"

"You bet."

Artie led the way through, Tina following behind carrying the drinks. After Artie had transferred to the sofa, and Tina had placed the drinks on the coffee table, she looked at him thoughtfully.

"You're doing that a lot today," Artie said, frowning at her. "Looking at me funnily."

She grinned at him, then vanished. Artie could hear her thudding up the stairs, and he stared at the door till she came back, carrying a blanket. "Since you got cold, I figured that I'd use the blanket that I stole off the bed in the guest room, then we could watch a movie and it would be just such a stereotypical thing to do, I know, but sometimes days like this demand you to be stereotypical..." She eventually trailed off, flopping on the sofa beside him before shaking out the blanket and draping it over both of their legs. "Movie?" she said, smiling at him.

Artie had been fighting off laughing as she rambled. "Lemme guess, if you are in such a stereotypical mood... Would it be a certain James Stewart movie that we are going to be watching?"

Tina picked up the remote control, and grinned at him, flicking on the television. "Maaaaaybe..." she grinned at him.

Leaning forward to pick up his drink, he glanced at her. "Good choice."

Two hours later, the television switched off with the movie over, they were both refusing to move from where they were on the sofa. "Think they will be able to deliver pizza in this weather?" Tina asked, her head on Artie's shoulder.

"Hmmmm?" Artie had almost dozed off, and he jumped slightly as she spoke. "Pizza delivery stops for no one. You want?"

"In a bit," she said, snuggling against him. "I'm comfy."

"Since when did you start using me as a hot water bottle?" he asked, peering down at her. Tina turned her head slightly, looking up at him, and the look she wore made Artie's breath catch. It was a look she hadn't given him since they had dated the first time round, right before she had suggested that they go somewhere private, which led to a long make out session. He found he couldn't turn away from her. "Tina?" he asked eventually in a quiet voice.

"Hmmm?" was her response as she sat more upright, never taking her eyes off of him. They sat staring at each other for a moment before Artie could bear it no longer, and leaned in, kissing her softly. Part of him was terrified that she would pull away, that he'd misread her body language, interpreted the whole situation wrongly but that part was quickly squashed as she made a soft noise in the back of her throat, and her hand moved to cup his cheek. In many ways it was as chaste as the first kisses that they'd shared, but Artie couldn't help feel there was more to it this time. When the kiss finally ended, they looked at each other again, then Tina cuddled up against him, leaning her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. "Your heart is pounding," she commented.

"I wonder why," he replied, still stunned by what had happened. He was silent, trying to work out how that had happened, and what happened now.

"Don't," Tina said suddenly, looking up at him and giving a fond smile.

"Don't what?"

"I know you. Don't over analyze this, not tonight. The evening has been wonderful, leave the worrying about things until tomorrow." She snuggled in closer to him, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her. "It's taken a while, but we've got this far, Artie. Just enjoy it."


End file.
